We cannot collect any plastic that is in a bag or sack; all recycling should be presented loose.

Why don’t we accept plastic carrier bags?

Plastic bags are not accepted for recycling at our Waste & Recycling Centre, however, many supermarkets now accept clean plastic film packaging in store. Plastic bags placed in your Red Box can become tangled in the sorting machinery, potentially causing breakdowns, or even fires. If there is plastic film packaging in your Red Box we would consider this as contamination, this could result in your box not being collected or an entire lorry load being rejected.

What happens to the collected plastic and cans?

The collection crew deposit the mixed plastics and cans in one compartment on the vehicle. At the Materials Handling Facility (Southall Lane) the cans and plastics are separated into three material streams; aluminium, steel and mixed plastics. These are then baled and sold on to re-processors.

Aluminium is re-melted and eventually used to produce new cans.

Steel is also re-melted and eventually used to produce new cans.

Plastics are sent to a plastic recycling facility where the different types of plastic are separated and baled. Once washed they can be reused in a variety of ways.

Any rejected plastic waste is usually sent for incineration where the energy content of the material is utilised.